Combined abdominal support and shoulder-brace



C. MUNTER. COMBINED ABDOMINAL SUPPORT AND' SHOULDER BBACE.

APPLICATION FILED JANA-1, I920.

Patented Feb. 1, 1921.

UNITED STATE-S PATENT orrlce.

cirmnnnsvmmir'rnn, or 101px, it. Y;

coimnmnn Amnommim sorron'rmm snounnnn nnncn Original application filed Ilecemberfi, 1917, Serial- No! 205,627. Divided and thisapplieation filed January" i i 14,1920. Serial No; 351,390;

To allwlwmitmcty concern."

Be it known that I, Giiennns Mum'nn, a citizen of the United States,res1d1ng etsNew York city, borough of Manhattun, county;

Dee, 5, 1 917,. being specific; to the form;

shown. in- Figure 4:- ofQthatcase, end the invention. herein disclosed-ism. combined eh,

dominal support end-shoulder braceedepted. to; be Wornby both men; and Women. to i seryer the; purpose of properly sustaining the ab:

domen, forcing the shoulders back. into, proper position: and to lend. correct curve ture to the spine for. the? purpose of stimn-i. letting proper lJBSPlBELfilOlL-Ml'd' correct can" riage.

The object of the-present-invention is to.

provide a combined supportendshoulder brace which Wlllflfi'lClGIlf oarry out itsipurposes throughthe employment of a, simple garment structure? so constituted that both the shoulder brace andehdominal support} ing portions thereof may besimulteneouslx adjusted While-in position: on the wearer to support the body in correct, anatomical; poise.

In the preferrediembodiment of the invention, the garment i's soyoonstruotedthet the act of securing-a beltaebout theweistline serves-to simultaneously adjust all portions;

' such! openingsarelprouided with suitable,

lecing a which in the preferred embodiment of; the invention; is. of the=,belt: operetedtype of the garment tothe proper. dimensions Featuree of theinvention, other than thosei'specified, will be-wepperent from the hereinafterdetailed description of thedraw' ings taken inconjunctionwwith the {LC-C0111? panying drawings. t u In the accompenylng drawingel hare illustrated one praetieeli embodiment ot the,

invention, but the construction therein,

shown: -is to; beunderstood! astillustrative only, and not as defining the-limits- Or the invention I i V Fig. i 1 is rear eleyatioar 9;? a? garment. em bodying the present invention in pleoe on; the-wearer.

Fig-,1 is-v ar-si deelevation oi the; showing. of- Fig; 1--;, and;

i-Fig, 3 shows a r'gern ent leidtfout fiiit. I

Ifn constructing the ger nenti-otf'thisy in Specification" of Letters-retain.

ventionp the some: may be either made firom a single piece of material,- progerly out to shape and providedwithabin ing around theedge thereof or it may he builtup from a.v 111111381112)? ofpieeesrsewed together tolend correct, contour thereto; The garment, em.-

bodieea, book member A substantially equal my. w-rdtbotoi the backtof the: body of the wearer and-of suchr hei ht: asto extend fvery sIightl- -below thewaist to the r shoulders theme ,1 and we side portions B B which. are;1 secured at, their; u

from: the arm holes. 0, 05 to the lower edge ofl-the garment and: at the sides. thereof;

edges ot the side-portions B and B are.

p portions? togtherback member. shoul' er-portions- C, C", asshmwn"; 111F151. 3.; 'lkhevslde-members li and are: otherwise tree from the beck member; Ah so. as: to provide openings (1, at". which are 1 adaptedto. extend downwardly adeptedtobe secured. together in anysuitable-manner, butin prantice, this is pref erebly accomplis "dz. by: cooperating; snap fasteners. 03; 6B,. positioned, respectively, alongyther corresponding edges-1 of each of; said sideportions." "The snap fasteners pro Vidfl? a,- simple andefii'eient 1 method of securing the front ed geslof the garment-A together it x in sueh manner that the: armentw may be readily put onv orremoved from the body. rmentwto the, wearer is obtained through adjustment of Thev adginstment of the:

the S de ne i gsm. andyar ma; to this. end it The; beltfopereted lacing may he associated? with: the: side,;op'enings.in arious whys but, for the purpose of. illustration, 1 have shown corresponding orgmmgs are secured the ends} letserandiefi. The. free ends of theliicesi and E are; brought; together. and secured to" beltlsectionsF andlF', .respect'iuely the for c mer of which is provided with; a buckle as shorvnin Fig. 3. it

fl jortion elongtlie edge of" the, o, the; oppositeedges. of the be. adjusted by the wearer to" properly suit his needs while it is in place upon his figure, and that the entiregarment may be adjusted by simply pulling the belt sections tight and securing them in position about the body. This is due to the fact that the side openings extend through both the shoulder brace and abdominal supporting "portions of :the garment, and in this regard it'will bemanifestthat the garment is, thee.

retically speaking, formed of two portions, a lower abdominal suporting' portion and an upper shoulder supporting portion, al-' though these two portions are so associated that a part of one serves as a part of the other in either instance. In'practice, the garmentmay be provided with additional ppenmgsand suitable associated lacings and "I, may be further ribbed'or stiffened without departing from the spirit of the invention. The mode of'operation of the garment, as well as the manner in which it serves to perform its functionswill be clearly understood from the foregoingdescription. It will be j a position wherein the back portion A will] manifest, that in donning the garment the arms'of the wearer are slipped throughthe armholes c and 0' to bring the garment 1nto overlie the back of the wearer and the shoulder portions C and C extend over his shoulders. I The side portions B and B are next wrapped about the figure and the snap ,fas-

teners d, d'brou ht into cooperation to close the. open front;

, he belt portions F and F are thereafter buckled together to bring about proper-adjustment'of the side openings'aand a. The garment is manufacv/ tured in different sizes and the parts are so I structed as to cover as little of the figure proportioned in'each garment that,.when a garment is worn upon a figure of corre spondmgfilze, the fit w1ll be correct in every detail. oreover, the garment is so con- ""as itjpossibly/can.Jcover with the proper earrymgout of its functions. The side por tions B and B are'made of sufficient width so asto not cut into the body and the back. portion extends substantially the entire 'h eight of the back ofthe wearer, so that when the garment is in adjustment the back is" supported for substantially its full extent and the abdomen is supported for substan tially "its full extent. Thegarment causes the spinal] column to partake ofits proper ria e will result. I I

aving thus fully described the invencurvature and proper respiration and can opening.

tion, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. As a new article of manufacture, a garment embodying a shoulder brace portion adapted to overlie the back of the wearer and provided with shoulder members forming arm holes, in combination with an abdominal supporting portion adapted to overhe the abdomen of the wearer, said garment being provided with openings extending downwardly from the arm holes to the lower edge of the garment, lacings associated with the openings, and belt sections associated with the lacings, whereby tension placed on the belt sections is transmitted to the lacings and the side openings adjusted to simultaneously adjust both the shoulder brace and abdominal supportingportions.

2. As a new article of manufacture, a garmerit embodying a shoulder brace portion adapted to overlie the back of the wearer,

and provided with shoulder members formingarm holes, in combination with an ab dominal supporting portion connected to the opposite sides of said shoulder brace portion and'adapted to overlie the abdomen of the wearer, said garment being provided with openings extending downwardly from the arm holes to the lower edge of the garment, and lacings associated with said openings and capable of adjusting the openings to simultaneously adjust both shoulder brace and abdominal supporting portions.

3. As a new article of manufacture, a garment embodying a solid back portion adapted to overlie substantially the entire back of the wearer, front portions adapted to overlie the abdomen and connected to the back member by shoulder members secured to the front and back members and passing over the shoulders of the wearer, whereby adjustable openings are provided between the lateral edges of the back member and the adjacent edges of the front members, adjustable lacings associated with the openings, and a belt section cooperating with the lacings of each opening.

4:. As a new article of manufacture, a garment embodying a solid back portion adapted to overlie substantially the entire back of the wearer, front portions adapted to overlie the abdomen and connected to the back member by shoulder members secured to the frontand back members and passing over the shoulders of the wearer, whereby adjustable openings are provided between the lateral edges of the back member and the adjacent edges of the front members, and adjustable lacings associated with each 5. As a new article of manufacture, a garment embodying a back portion adapted to overlie the back of the wearer, front por-' tions adapted to overlie the abdomen, said front members being cut away above the abdomen, whereby the front of the body above the abdomen is uncovered, and being connected to the back member by shoulder members secured to the front and back members and passing over the shoulders of the wearer whereby adjustable openings are provided between the lateral edges of the back and front members, adjustable lacings associated with each opening, and means whereby the lacings may be adjusted while the garment is being worn to simultaneously adjust the garment both at the shoulders and at the abdomen.

6. AS a new article of manufacture, a combined abdominal support and shoulder brace comprising a back member adapted to overlie the back of the wearer, front members adapted to overlie the abdomen and to be detachably connected together at the front, shoulder straps adapted to extend over the shoulders and serving to connect the front and back members, said front and back members being adjustably connected along their lateral edges at the sides from the arm pits to below the waist line, and means for simultaneously adjusting said, members while upon the wearer and to there by adjust both the shoulder brace and the abdominal support.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification.

' CHARLES MUNTER. 

